Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites

This week's case is a small "worm" submitted for identification following removal during screening colonoscopy. It was tan-whi...

Answer: Adult hookworm, Necator americanus The hookworms are easily recognized by their piercing mouth parts - used for attaching to the sm...

Happy Thanksgiving day to my American friends! Here's a question for your consideration: which parasites can you get from eating underco...

Answer: Tachyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii.  My accompanying request was to list other parasites that can be acquired from eating (undercook...

This week's case is a bit of a puzzle for you to put together. The following object was seen in a urine sediment. It was initially movin...

Answer: Schistosoma haematobium miracidium, newly hatched with egg remnant. This really neat photo, captured by our clinical microbiology ...

Case of the Week 513 This week features our monthly case from Idzi Potters and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp . A 45-year-ol...

Answer: rotifer Wow, great comments on this case!  The Old One mentioned that this is a bdelloid rotifer. He comments "In this year o...

HERE is Halloween Parasite #5, the last in my series of creepy dreadful wonderful parasites for the Halloween season. These pieces are writ...

Happy Halloween Week everyone! As you all know, parasites can be creepy dreadful, but also fascinating, and sometimes even helpful. As a spe...